83 new exploration agreements worth $15.5 billion will be signed next year, and 230 wells worth $2 billion will be drilled, El Molla said.

The Zohr gas field will be producing 500 million cubic feet per day by the end of 2017, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said last month, according to Reuters.

Likewise the North Alexandria concession will begin producing 500-700 million cubic feet of gas per day by the end of next year, the oil minister said last month.

Egypt’s natural gas output is expected to increase to 6.2 billion cubic feet per day by the end of the current fiscal year, from 5.2 billion cubic feet per day last July, he was quoted as saying on Reuters.

Elsewhere, the minister announced that the Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS), which is aimed at attracting further development investment, will be held 12-14 February 2018.

The Zohr field is the largest natural gas field in the Mediterranean. Its discovery in 2015 nearly doubled Egypt's reserves.